JoinAll Blog Posts
Blog Post
Mentoring — A team effort
The most experienced science teacher is retiring this year at the middle school where I am principal. The other five teachers on the science faculty a...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Commentary: It's About Time to Teach Evolution Forthrightly
Fifty years ago, in 1967, the Tennessee legislature repealed the Butler Act, a 1925 law that made it a misdemeanor for a teacher in the state’s pub...
By sstuckey
Blog Post
Students Teaching Science to Younger Students
A Science Ambassador from North Forsyth High School in Cumming, Georgia, uses a tube with a marble inside it as a “roller coaster” to teach an ele...
By Debra Shapiro
Blog Post
The Carson HookUpz 2.0: The Missing Link Between Camera and Eyepiece
Over the years I have held digital cameras and phones up to the eyepieces of telescopes, spotting scopes, binoculars, and most often microscopes to ta...
By Martin Horejsi
Blog Post
The Micro Phone Lens: A Tiny Solution to a Huge Problem
Other than computer code, the Micro Phone Lens just might be the lightest accessory you can add to your tablet or phone. Weighing in at a fraction of ...
By Martin Horejsi
Blog Post
Committee Approves DeVos Nomination, Senate Vote Expected Next Week
On January 31, the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee voted to approve the nomination of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education by a ...
By Jodi Peterson
Blog Post
Let’s Help Every Student Succeed with STEM
NSTA, in collaboration with 100kin10 and other key STEM leaders, has developed a new campaign designed to ensure that STEM and science/STEM teachers ...
By Kate Falk
Blog Post
Big Data, Small Devices: Investigating the Natural World Using Real-Time Data
Many students nowadays are dependent on electronic devices. In fact, it’s sometimes hard to separate them from their smartphones and tablets....
By Carole Hayward
Blog Post
Keeping Students Engaged Before a Break
I finished a unit in middle school science two days ahead of our winter holiday break. We went on to the next unit, but my students didn’t seem ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Senate Confirmation Vote for DeVos Scheduled for Jan 31
Following a contentious confirmation hearing for Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos that evoked images of guns and grizzlies and showcased a lack...
By Jodi Peterson
Blog Post
Weather watching and phenology support using evidence to state a claim
Noticing changes in the growth and habit of plants is part of the science of phenology. We do this casually when we comment on the buds swelling on th...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Career of the Month: Television Writer
“I aspire to translate complicated ideas in science into consumable stories,” says Katherine Lingenfelter, who writes for TV shows with science or...
By sstuckey
Blog Post
A Three-Step Method for Safer Labs
The lab can be an unsafe place. Under NSTA’s Duty of Care, however, the teacher is required to make labs safer (see Resources). One way of...
By Kenneth Roy
Blog Post
What’s So Special about Disciplinary Core Ideas (Part 2)
DCIs provide explanations for a variety of phenomena ...
By Joe Krajcik
Blog Post
A love note to education conferences
In my suitcase I have a collapsible jug, tube, funnel, glitter, pebbles, foam hearts, sea shells, and empty plastic bottles—all part of the material...
By Peggy Ashbrook